This is a mini-tribute to the Italian flag. I am living here, after all. So why not?

Red: pizza sauce I make from scratch. My kids love it… so much so that they prefer eating pizza IN. It is simply [and very, very conveniently] my basic tomato sauce, pushed through the smallest holes of a food mill (my basic sauce is pushed through large holes). I just add some tomato paste to ensure the consistency I need. (Pizza secrets: I typically use a combo of fresh mozzarella and either emmentaler, provolone or young pecorino cheese. They have amazing pepperoni here… what can I say?).

White: buffalo mozzarella. Here is the scoop: from butter to wine to balsamic and cheese, in Italy the where matters. And so does the labeling. The ‘best’ mozzarella comes from 1. water buffalo milk and 2. Campana. If mozzarella bears the trademark Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, you will most likely also see a DOC or DOP symbol. This essentially means it is quality controlled for processing and specific to a ‘controlled region.’ Under Italian Law, approximately 200 producers make up ‘The Consortium for the Protection of the Buffalo Cheese of Campania;’ they are responsible for the “protection, surveillance, promotion and marketing” of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana cheese. (Yes: mozzarella can be made from cow’s milk as well—and in other regions. Just no status symbols). Read more here and here.

BTW, did some frolicking around Florence and found—to my utter disbelief—a mozzarella tasting bar. Yes, really.

Green: one guess? Pesto. I wrote a guest post, called ‘just add pesto’ over at Foodwhirl. Foodwhirl is s new site, full of great food and good ideas. It is worth some browsing, sniffing, ogling and recipe-imbibing. Go have a look-see!

I find ‘white bean spread’ to be a spy-cover for what it really is: roasted garlic spread (at least—my version of it).

It is so common in trattorias and osterias all around Tuscany and greater Italy, to find a mix of bruschetta or crostini on the menu. In Tuscany we frequently run into these crostini toppers: liver spread, tomatoes, lard with or without honey, olive paste, ricotta, and very frequently: white bean spread.

Cannelini beans are the norm here. You will find them cooked with tomato sauce as a cradle for sausages, you will find them served by their lonesome, or in soups, on salads (try this one!) and quintessentially as a crostini-topper.

I cheat. I pump up my version of ‘Tuscan white bean spread’ with loads and loads of roasted garlic. Because I love it that way. And I am unafraid. Sure, I will smell like garlic for days… but it is worth it. And the beans and garlic pair so beautifully together in equivalent amounts that it seems they are a match made in heaven. I mean: who reduced the amount of garlic in the first place? When did ‘less garlic’ become law? In my mind—with this spread—I am setting things straight:

Tuscan white bean spread
white beans (canned beans, drained)
roasted garlic (many heads of it)
coarse salt
optional: whitish Italian herb blend
fantastic olive oil (new oil if you have it! but one that you just love to taste)
grilled bread (I sometimes broil, sometimes grill, sometimes press both sides in a saute pan to brown…)

Use a fork and mash together equal parts roasted garlic (I roast the garlic, then squeeze it out of its shell like toothpaste), drizzle in olive oil to achieve desired spreadable texture; add salt and herbs according to taste. Spread on crostini, drizzle with oil and serve.

It almost makes you want to double the batch—having these ideas floating around in your head. OR maybe just make a batch of polenta, conveniently forget to serve it, then have the whole bulk of it for leftovers.

Polenta is a fantastic stand-in for pasta or potatoes, rice or risotto—a corny starch alternative. And it pairs fabulously with meat sauces (we adore soft polenta with wild boar ragu).

First, make the polenta. Then with whatever makes it past round one, place in container in fridge (perhaps a square dish, and pat the polenta in from 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick—you will want to slice it later).

Then go-to this list for leftover ideas:

1. I recently found Frank’s blog: Memorie di Angelina (yes its in English, but chock full of Italian food, how-to’s & grandma’s original dishes). His post on polenta is actually what inspired me to write this one about ‘leftovers.’

2. Or… maybe I was just looking for an excuse to re-post one of our family’s all-time favorite dishes: Italian layered dish. Polenta is the cradle upon which this meal rocks.

3. Two vegetarian options from Dish ‘n’ That.

4. Scroll down Rambling Tart’s post to find a recipe and pic of appetizer sized polenta-cheese-roasted pepper bites. I can almost taste them!

5. Oooh here is a quick one: Tartelette had the brilliance to make polenta croutons as as soup-topper!

p.s. Probably more than you wanted to know about polenta, but check out life in Italy in case you are a weirdo like me and always want to know more…

So, what do you like to do with leftover polenta?

My sons and I had a once-in-a-lifetime 6 day Tuscan road trip. I could go on and on about it, but I already have here and here and piled photos here. We drove from Florence to Volterra, took a ferry to Elba Island, hopped back to the coast and visited some of the most beautiful hill-towns I have seen (Sorano, Pitilgiano, Scansano)—then soaked our bodies in 5 different hot springs strewn across Tuscany. Sigh.

Oh yeah—the tiramisu.

Our favorite stay was at an agriturismo called Sant’ Egle, just above the city of Sorano. I was especially excited that we could eat ‘in’ their on-site restaurant (although it felt more like dining at a friends house, near their cozy living room with a crackling fire…). We paid per person and enjoyed a multi-course meal: appetizers, primi, secondi, contorni, drinks and dessert. (In fact, it was so fantastic that we asked to dine in the second night of our stay as well).

The crowning glory of the meal was Ericka’s tiramisu. Which we inhaled. And when I asked her just moments before our goodbyes, if she would mind sharing the recipe, I was ever-so-grateful that she did. And she knows too, that I plan to share it with you:

Tuscan Tiramisu
serves 8.

500 grams Mascarpone (quality)
5 egg yolks (fresh, organic)
5 spoons sugar (eyeball it—mine were probably Tablespoons)
Espresso (I added a little liquor to my espresso: brandy, rum or Grand Marnier are good options)
Pavesini Biscuits (an Italian cookie that is thinner than ladyfingers; I had ladyfingers on hand and used them—it turned out great).
Bittersweet chocolate sprinkles/powder (I shaved bittersweet chocolate over mine—make sure it is 70% bittersweet, the contrast is worth it)

Whisk yolks and sugar until it becomes creamy (and you can no longer feel grains of sugar; I whisked about 5-8 min). Add mascarpone and whisk until smooth and light (if it is good mascarpone it will blend nicely without pebbles/chunks). Make espresso (add liquor if desired). Very quickly dip biscuits/ladyfingers in and out of espresso. In bowl or serving dish (think about an 8×8 square or round/oval equivalent) place one layer of biscuits, followed by layer of mascarpone mixture. Repeat. Sprinkle with chocolate and chill in fridge for 2 hours or overnight. (I just spooned out portions into bowls for serving).

Thanks Ericka! (Thanks to you, I have had tiramisu for breakfast two days in a row!)

If you ever find yourself mapping a tour around Tuscany, I highly recommend a visit (includes breakfast) and by all means make reservations for dinner—you won’t regret it! Find Ericka and friends at Sant’ Egle.

Sure I learned how to fabricate a chicken and make bechamel; we clarified butter and practiced our knife cuts. We used chinoise to strain our sauces and hailed the art of cooking an egg. We used bain maries and whisked emulsions, studied food culture across the US and learned to look at plate presentation with a trained eye. I adored culinary school. But beyond the cooking basics, I am realizing I learned some weird—or kinda cool—kitchen habits.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but now that it has been about a year… here is what I am noticing about who I am—how I am—in the kitchen:

1. clean as you go. Maybe intuitive to some—not necessarily to me. But now if a counter is full of smudges and crumbs—a sponge will quickly visit. Cutting boards are cleaned mid-prep, bowls rinsed and put in the wash and I put things away as soon as possible (ingredients used then put away). When it works, this actually is a great feeling… that I run my kitchen—it doesn’t run me.

2. clean before you go. This was interesting to me—I don’t like to start cooking until my kitchen is clean and the dishwasher empty. I need to have the dishwasher empty to ‘clean as I go.’ Apparently, this also minimizes crabbiness. And if the floor is dirty, it gets a clean sweep too. No I am not anal—just organized (ahem: family butts in to call me ‘Monica’ from Friends).

3. apron on, towel in back. Like going onto the stage, or packing your bag for school, or getting ready to play your sport. You get ready for what you are about to do… by dressing the part. I love wearing my apron in my habitual way, washing my hands and tucking a kitchen towel into the back of my apron. It is always there when I need it: to handle a hot pan, put under a bowl to hold it in place (for whisking!), or just to dry my hands.

4. think. Ha! Not that I didn’t think before. But the questions I ask myself are different: I use my senses to taste, to notice the heat, to plan my meals around the stock or bacon fat or leftover polenta. For example, these thoughts: too much of a simmer, too hot for the egg to fry properly, needs more liquid for the right texture, needs more fat, prepare an ice bath… I think about how to cool, store, plan my meals. Somehow now, my meal-planning feels more like a cascading waterfall than a separate series of puddles (both of which are fun to play in!).

5. no recipes. This was my goal: to divorce myself from recipes. Maybe its because I was less of a natural cook than I wanted to admit. But I needed to gain enough sense of the ‘method behind the madness’ so I could just ‘cook dinner’ and not always refer to a recipe. I wanted to know how to do things without following written-down instructions. Now, finally, I can look at a recipe and make all sorts of adjustments with confidence. And I make meals all the time without recipes. I still consult the plethora of great chefs out there—I just don’t have to. That makes me happy!

What are some of your ways of ‘being’ in the kitchen that make you happy?

And by wining I mean: chicken cooked in reduced red wine sauce, and by dining I mean: table worthy. By all means, make sure some of the wine makes it into a glass for you. Some for the skillet, some for me/you. Cooks deserve that.

And you know I love to add recipes to my default dinners list. Our family’s list of go-to dishes… entrees that ‘make the cut.’

This one just made the cut. And not just because it tasted so darn delicious, but because it was easy to make with rewarding results and my kids kept asking for seconds. Oh, and because it is super budget friendly: I used all chicken legs (though thighs would work well too).

Chicken with red wine and balsamic
Serves 4.

6-8 legs chicken
3 cups red wine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium red onion
2 carrots
3 T raisins
3 T toasted pine nuts
3 T balsamic glaze (store-bought or homemade)
Freshly ground black pepper and salt

Snag 1 very large skillet, and another medium soup pot. In the soup pot over low/medium simmer the wine, cloves, cinnamon and brown sugar. It’ll take a half hour for it to reduce to about a cup—at which point you should off the heat (then remove cloves). [In the skillet, quickly toast the pine nuts, then:] Heat olive oil over medium/high, S&P the chicken legs and saute each side about 4 minutes (you are aiming for caramel brown). Reduce to medium/low and add carrots and onion (and here you could add Italian herbs) and cook to caramelize, 10 minutes. Add raisins, pine nuts and half of the reduced wine mixture. Scrape up brown bits off bottom of pan, let simmer another 10 minutes. Add remaining wine sauce, 3 T balsamic glaze and simmer another 5 minutes. Season with S&P and serve. I LOVE serving over a pile of potatoes or sauteed greens. Meal ready!